1. Field
The present invention relates to a method for glue-binding bundles of paper into either soft covers or hard covers, and a band, which is used in the said method.
2. Background Information
Glue-binding is a widely used method of binding a bundle of paper to form a neat booklet or book for later use. Numerous types of glue-binding devices are known, some of which have a rotatable gluing table, to which the paper bundle is secured, the table being rotated, for gluing the spine, to a position in which a suitable device is used to spread hot glue on the spine, the table being then rotated back for the glue to dry, after which the subsequent operations are performed.
The bundle of material is secured and the spine shaped, by using so-called side nipping, in which pressing/shaping takes place using a suitable rigid nipping beam.
In one glue-binding method, a separate band is glued to the spine of the book or booklet, which band usually has a glued surface, generally protected by one or two detachable protective strips of, for example, silicon-impregnated paper. The band is often of plastic-coated fabric and the side of it that will remain visible can be patterned, figured, or otherwise finished to be aesthetically pleasing. On the other hand, the band can be of some other material, for example, book-binding gauze. The width of the band is sufficient to cover the spine of the book or booklet and to extend for a certain distance over both sides of the spine. Alternatively, the band can be attached to soft or hard covers, with the aid of the glued surfaces protected by strips. When the covers are of a wrap-around type, their hardness or softness is of no significance. The glued surfaces then face outwards. If the glued surfaces face inwards, the intention is to attach them to separate front and back covers.
Though the use of the aforesaid band is a versatile and desirable method, problems arise from the fact that the band crumples easily during side-nipping. This is because, as the side-nipping beam moves towards the band, it catches the band's edge and crumples the band in front of it. The band could perhaps be lifted manually or with some mechanical device to avoid crumpling, but in any case this would be a difficult procedure with no certainty of success. It is therefore not applicable in any kind of continuous work.
The present invention is therefore intended to create a method, which will permit full-scale, unimpeded hot-gluing work to be carried out, even when using a narrow band, without the problems caused by crumpling.